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Managing your Heart Failure Starts with You!
Do Your Part, Know Your Heart
What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure develops following injury to the heart
such as the damage caused by a heart attack,
long-term high blood pressure, or an abnormality of
one of the heart valves. The weakened heart must
work harder to keep up with the demands of the body.
Heart Failure Risk Factors Include:
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Heart attack (myocardial infarction)
• Damage to the heart valves or history of a heart murmur
• Enlargement of the heart
• Family history of enlarged heart
• Diabetes
Diagnosing Heart Failure
Early diagnosis and treatment are very important.
Physicians often order a number of tests when
exploring a possible diagnosis of heart failure. The
most important of these tests is an echocardiogram,
or “echo” for short. This test tells your doctor what
your ejection fraction, or “EF,” The ejection fraction is
a measurement of how well your heart is pumping.
Heart Failures Impact
5.7
In the United States (US), approximately
million
patients over the age of 20 years old have HF, with
870,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Stages of Heart Failure
According to the New York Heart Association
(NYHA) functional classification system.
Class 1
No limitation of physical activity. Ordinary
physical activity does not cause undue fatigue,
palpitation, or dyspnea (shortness of breath).
Class 2
Slight limitation of physical activity. Comfortable
at rest, but ordinary physical activity results in
fatigue, palpitation, or dyspnea.
Class 3
Marked limitation of physical activity. Comfortable
at rest, but less than ordinary activity causes
fatigue, palpitation, or dyspnea.
Class 4
Unable to carry out any physical activity without
discomfort. Symptoms of cardiac insufficiency at
rest. If any physical activity is undertaken,
discomfort is increased.
Mild
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Managing Heart Failure
People with heart failure can live normal lives. For
individuals diagnosed with heart failure, there are a
number of medications that work together to
improve your symptoms and help keep your heart
failure from getting worse. Taking these medicines,
in addition to healthy eating and getting regular
exercise, will help improve your health.